When I open my closet
I see a tee
nestled among others
End Hunger
Save Tibet
Peace Not War
White letters on black
Black Lives Matter
It is carefully washed
neatly folded
empty and flat
It stares at me
Implacable
When I open my closet
I see a tee
nestled among others
End Hunger
Save Tibet
Peace Not War
White letters on black
Black Lives Matter
It is carefully washed
neatly folded
empty and flat
It stares at me
Implacable
In the late 1990s, I thought I might have come to the end of my career at UCI. I’d worked for 20 years as a behavioral health specialist in Family Medicine, had earned tenure, had published many papers, taught many residents, served as interim chair of my department, and as co-director of a large required patient-doctor course. I’d accomplished what I’d set out to do, but could see no place I wanted to go. I was seriously thinking of leaving the university. My husband asked me if, before I left, there was anything more I wanted to do, as I might not have the chance to work in an academic setting again. I said, “I’d like to teach a course on literature and medicine.” He told me I should do it, so I filled out all the multitudinous elective forms CEP required, and in the fall of 1999 taught the first Patient Stories/Doctor Stories elective in the School of Medicine. It enrolled 3 students, two of whom rarely showed up, so for many sessions it was just Aparche Yang and me. Aparche seemed to enjoy the experience reasonably well, but I loved it!
Hello, and thank you for allowing me to be present at one remove. I am deeply honored and grateful to receive the amazing honor STFM has bestowed on me, and truly regret that I cannot be there in person. I am with you in spirit.
When I joined the UCI Department of Family Medicine in 1978, the specialty of family medicine was still very young, and it rightly considered itself to be revolutionary. It advocated a different approach to patient care – one that cared for the whole patient, whole families, whole communities, especially those marginalized and neglected by the larger society. I was also pretty young, so in a way family medicine and I came of age together. Family Medicine had a huge influence on my professional values and priorities, the way I defined the nature of my work in the world, and even on who I am as a person. Family Medicine inspired me to be a more socially conscious scholar and I hope a better person.
Hi everybody. It’s such a great honor to be here, I am deeply grateful to be the recipient of this award. I’d to thank Dr. John Saultz, who nominated me; my chair, Dr. Cindy Haq, who promoted my nomination; and all my colleagues who wrote extremely generous letters on my behalf. This award is more than I deserve, but I humbly accept as it represents all that I have aspired to be during my entire professional career.
Thank you so much for this opportunity – once again! This is my third go at saying goodbye, so probably you are all thinking, let’s hope this time she gets the job done. Honestly, it has been so therapeutic for me to reflect on my time in the department, first at the 50th anniversary, then at our last faculty meeting, so thanks for indulging me one final time.
In January 1978, I packed up my two little daughters (to be joined by our son 4 years later), my incredibly supportive and flexible husband, and accepted a job as a behavioral scientist (what is now called a behavioral health specialist) in the Department of Family Medicine at UCI. I was ready for an adventure. I just didn’t know it would last 42 years.
Johanna Shapiro, PhD.
When I applied for a position of behavioral scientist, in modern parlance known as a behavioral health specialist, in the UCI Department of Family Medicine, I had never heard of family medicine. I had no idea it was a medical specialty like surgery or pediatrics. And when I gave that key interview presentation, the chair fell asleep. Somehow, despite these failings I was still hired. I quickly learned two things. One was how to avoid boring my chair into oblivion; and two was what family medicine was all about. And I fell in love – not with my chair, because I was already married with two little kids – but with family medicine.